Last night I was able to call Elizabeth and let her know we are here. Hopefully she updated my blog to let others around the globe know. It is amazing to me that so many are praying for us! We are definitely way out of our element here. I've never been to a country where I didn't at least understand a majority of the language, but here I am completely lost. It is a weird feeling. One I knew I'd have, but still isn't the same until you're here. And that's from a standpoint where we haven't even left the apartment yet this morning!
I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the times that Natalia called yesterday (it had to be over a dozen exchanges between us and her but she speaks very clear English and is easy to understand despite the cell phone's cracking) that she said that she has found us an apartment in the region we're going to get our daughter for $35/night and after we have the paperwork from the SDA she will book it for us if that's ok. That sounds great. I'd been told by someone I chatted with online to expect that rate where we're headed.
On other news we got here so late yesterday that we didn't go out again last night. And on the last quick plane ride I slept the entire time so I didn't get the little drink or food offered. And when we were in Frankfurt it was $5 for a drink and I didn't need one, so I bypassed it at the airport. I think it's been since the overseas flight- where mind you people don't drink a whole lot of liquids or else the end up in the airplane commode for hours- since I had a good drink. And we can't drink the water. I'm THIRSTY.
Mike just informed me that he boiled water last night and drank it. I'm going to have to do that. I don't think I can go out walking without anything to drink and not have a problem. That will be our first stop this morning. I wish I'd thought to do two things at this point:
1- pack a bottle or three of water so we'd have it when we got here (in checked luggage of course)
2- have money for the cell phone and to exchange immediately as well as our apartment's first night's pay out of our money wallet
Those two things would have saved us a lot of hassle this morning. Oh well!!
Off to boil water, get something to drink and explore Kiev a bit!
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The Cornish Family... Chasing God's calling...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
1/19/08 1:30pm Kiev
Way more info than most of you want to know, but here you go!!
It's hard to believe it's been an entire day since we left Florida, but here we are, set up in our apartment and exhausted. I think I'll work backward because that's the way my mind is functioning right now.
Our apartment is on a historical street in Kiev. When we arrived on this street (after driving around a while listening to the young men, ?Acho? and our driver ?Sa'ria? argue about which way to go) Acho went into the building and wandered around some, he made some phone calls, and finally said they'd meet us there in 25 minutes. We walked down the street (old cobblestones) and slid our way around until we found a vendor with a map of Kiev. For 10 grivnias (about $2) we found one and then slid our way back down the street to the car. Just a few minutes later a young guy (yes, I'M calling someone young! He had to be around 20-22 MAYBE) came and let us into the building. The entrance is off of a courtyard that's through a little alley from the street. There is a gate by the road to access it. Then you put in a code by pressing two numbers at the same time- not one after another- and enter a DARK corridor. No lights inside, just one at the bottom. Then there are unfinished concrete stairs that are very obviously part of the "history" of this street. Up 3 flights of stairs and you come to the apartment. Using a really neat key you go in to a hallway. There are three doors on the right side- the first is the bedroom (or mostly just a bed), the second the "bathroom" and the third the toilet. Right, the toilet's not in with the shower, sink, and clothes washing machine. On down the hallway at the end is a refrigerator. Then the hall turns to the left and there's another small hallway. This one has some bookshelves at the end and a small table with a microwave and coffee maker on it. On the right (somewhat where the halls meet) is a 'living room'. It has a TV (which doesn't work) a couch, and two chairs. Also a nice cabinet but I'm not sure what it's for ☺
We are impressed by how nice the furnishings and the layout of the INSIDE of the apartment are since the corridor to get to it leaves much to be desired. The only thing Mike doesn't like is the strings of beads hanging down in the bedroom doorway. I can't help but think "Mail order bride" when I see them… Oh well! It is a nice apartment and when I asked Acho if it is safe is shrugged and nodded, said it is in the middle of the city. I guess we'll be ok! I'm glad this isn't where I'll be by myself. I couldn't do all these stairs- especially in the dark- with a kid in tow.
Ok, so that's the apartment, now for when we arrived in Kiev at the airport. First, we get off the plane on a REAL gate! In Frankfurt we landed and parked, walked down the stairs to a waiting bus, held on for dear life while they drove like crazy people around to the airport, then dropped us off to walk back up the stairs and into the airport. It was quite the ride! So back to Kiev… We arrived at the airport and got our bags fairly quickly, then followed the leader like lemmings through a few rooms until reaching one room with people packed in and filling out papers, standing in lines. We finally figured out that we needed to fill out a form with our arrival information. Then a lady comes over and sends us from the forever long international line to the Ukrainian citizen line. In our attempt to say "we're not citizens" she spouted off something in Ukrainian and waved us over then left. So we moved. We get to the front of the line and the person in front of us is sent back to fill out the "other side" of the arrivals/departures ticket. Surprise surprise… we were too. Apparently you have to fill out both arrivals and departures in the beginning. Weird. So we filled it off and got back into line.
We got through there and walked through the rest of customs, questioning a little whether we should stop anywhere or not but we walked right through. Weird again. I thought we were supposed to be given a paper on the plane that said how much money we were bringing in?? I KNOW that I've heard people say this, but we weren't. We got out into the area where everyone is waiting for their family and friends along with a ton of people wanting to be your driver. It's actually kind of intimidating to go through it! Off to the right in the back is a young man (yep, using it again!) who had to be right around our ages if that. I want to say younger, but Mike would possibly say a little older. This was Acho.
We attempted to ask Acho about declaring money and he quickly dialed Natalia on the phone. She introduced herself and we did the greetings and then she said that as long as we didn't bring over the allowed amount of cash we are fine. No need to do anything else. Hmm… Ok… Since we didn't see anywhere to do this anyway, we decided to take her word on it. We'll find out Monday whether or not this was a good idea when we try to turn in the traveler's checks! I'm afraid this may be a problem!! UGH. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though.
Acho brought us out to the car and we met Sa'rai – the driver- and headed out. He drives a cute little Audi ☺ Next stop was a store to buy a cell phone and to exchange some money. We dug a little money out (we'd only had travel money on us and not enough to change over immediately nor to pay for a telephone) and went inside. At the time we didn't realize that we'd be doing both at the same place though, so we only brought in the money for a phone. Surprise! I had the other money on me, just not accessible, so I asked out helper people whether there was a restroom nearby. They asked someone that basically said 'no' and they said there's one down the road at a restaurant. Uh… no, thanks. So I asked Sa'rai to bring me out to the car and I retrieved some money that way. We went back in and exchanged it. Wanted to make sure we had enough grivnas for several days so that we don't have to keep running to the bank. I sure hope that the TCs are able to be cashed out though! Or else… we might just have a problem.
So I'll back up a little further now. Our plane trip ☺ We left the house around 9:45 on Friday morning and my mom drove us to the airport. This was after Kristopher said a very happy "goodbye" and was off with Grandma and Grandpa Cornish. And after I got to sit and rock with Brianna with tears streaming down my face. I already miss them both. But I didn't want Kristopher to see me cry. Brianna went willingly back to Aunt Elizabeth so that was good, and we were off to he airport. Sorry this is so scattered. It's 6pm here and 11am at home. I've had about 3 hours sleep- in a combination of 3 attempts or more- since yesterday when we woke up at 7am. (and only went to bed at about 1am!).
Ok, so where was I?? Our flights… Orlando to DC was uneventful. We had lunch at Orlando airport and sat around for a little while before boarding our first flight. Then when we got to DC we had a pretzel (Mike's had a hot dog in it) and drinks. We sat on the floor near our gate because there weren't enough chairs nearby. It was actually kindof funny because Mike and I sat down in this big open area and there was noone around. But I guess since we were doing it everyone else could too? The floor area was covered with people by the time they called for boarding.
On the DC flight (to Frankfurt) we tried to sleep, tried to read, but it was all difficult. The guy sitting next to me on the plane was quite the character. He was interesting. Going to meet friends in Vienna, off for a little break from work after having to work through the holidays. I'd guess he was about 30, give or take a year or two. He was very nice though. Justin? Or Jason? Something like that! The overseas flight was LONG. But it was ok. My knee was sore by the time we were getting off, and there was about a 4 yr old kid sitting behind me that threw fits about every hour the entire 8 hours. Thrashing, kicking my seat HARD, and CONSTANTLY while throwing these 5-10 min fits. It was lovely. I couldn't help but pray that that's not me on the way home… I honestly just think the parents didn't care. They were asleep while he was throwing fits. It was awful. But besides that everything was good ☺
Then we got to Frankfurt. This airport was unusual. I already told about the LOOONG bus ride to get from the plane to the building, but then when we got to the terminal there were no signs or anything to ay where to go. We wandered a little thne finally found a 'service' desk and asked there. The lady said we could check in upstairs or just at the gate. We opted to go upstairs and I'm SO GLAD we did! The first line we stood in we found out was the ticketing area, not the check in, so then we headed to another (much longer) line. We got checked in, even had seats next to each other, and went downstairs to go to the gate. But we couldn't. They don't allow you in the gate area more than 10 minutes before boarding. So here we were with about 45 minutes to spare and nowhere to go. We went upstairs to a different floor so we could at least use the restroom and get something to drink. After trying to buy a drink a few other ways we eventually ended up buying Mike a coffee at a Haagen Daaz store. I bet it was good. And since we didn't have any Euro to pay with we had to pay in USD, but they didn't seem to mind.
We went back downstairs and eventually found another corner to hide in until we could go into the gate area. We sat there for quite some time before going and checking in. Then the flight was delayed 30 minutes, so we sat inside the 'secure area' for a really long time. We met some interesting people while waiting. A 50 yr old woman that was going to Kiev to have fibroids removed from her Uterus. And she's had 3 rounds of IVF that have failed already and intends to come back to Kiev again when she's recovered from this surgery for one last attempt at IVF. Interesting? What's even more interesting is that eventually things came around to our adoption and at the very end that we're adopting a child with Down syndrome. As she left this woman said "I think it's really neat that you're adopting a child with Ds. I don't think I could do it". Hmm… But you're 50 and trying to get pregnant? I kind of hope she doesn't get pregnant… Is that mean of me?
We also met another lady that is from Kiev. She married and moved to the US and is on her way back to visit family. Her husband was just deployed with the US armed forces to Iraq for a year.
Well, I guess that's all the events of the past day or two. Now we're watching a movie on the laptop and just had some microwave mac 'n cheese for dinner (and a snicker's bar and slim jim bc the mac 'n cheese were even gross!). I had to boil water for the mac too because we haven't been able to buy any bottled water yet. Tomorrow we'll venture out some and get water at the very least, and hopefully will get in some sight seeing ☺
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It's hard to believe it's been an entire day since we left Florida, but here we are, set up in our apartment and exhausted. I think I'll work backward because that's the way my mind is functioning right now.
Our apartment is on a historical street in Kiev. When we arrived on this street (after driving around a while listening to the young men, ?Acho? and our driver ?Sa'ria? argue about which way to go) Acho went into the building and wandered around some, he made some phone calls, and finally said they'd meet us there in 25 minutes. We walked down the street (old cobblestones) and slid our way around until we found a vendor with a map of Kiev. For 10 grivnias (about $2) we found one and then slid our way back down the street to the car. Just a few minutes later a young guy (yes, I'M calling someone young! He had to be around 20-22 MAYBE) came and let us into the building. The entrance is off of a courtyard that's through a little alley from the street. There is a gate by the road to access it. Then you put in a code by pressing two numbers at the same time- not one after another- and enter a DARK corridor. No lights inside, just one at the bottom. Then there are unfinished concrete stairs that are very obviously part of the "history" of this street. Up 3 flights of stairs and you come to the apartment. Using a really neat key you go in to a hallway. There are three doors on the right side- the first is the bedroom (or mostly just a bed), the second the "bathroom" and the third the toilet. Right, the toilet's not in with the shower, sink, and clothes washing machine. On down the hallway at the end is a refrigerator. Then the hall turns to the left and there's another small hallway. This one has some bookshelves at the end and a small table with a microwave and coffee maker on it. On the right (somewhat where the halls meet) is a 'living room'. It has a TV (which doesn't work) a couch, and two chairs. Also a nice cabinet but I'm not sure what it's for ☺
We are impressed by how nice the furnishings and the layout of the INSIDE of the apartment are since the corridor to get to it leaves much to be desired. The only thing Mike doesn't like is the strings of beads hanging down in the bedroom doorway. I can't help but think "Mail order bride" when I see them… Oh well! It is a nice apartment and when I asked Acho if it is safe is shrugged and nodded, said it is in the middle of the city. I guess we'll be ok! I'm glad this isn't where I'll be by myself. I couldn't do all these stairs- especially in the dark- with a kid in tow.
Ok, so that's the apartment, now for when we arrived in Kiev at the airport. First, we get off the plane on a REAL gate! In Frankfurt we landed and parked, walked down the stairs to a waiting bus, held on for dear life while they drove like crazy people around to the airport, then dropped us off to walk back up the stairs and into the airport. It was quite the ride! So back to Kiev… We arrived at the airport and got our bags fairly quickly, then followed the leader like lemmings through a few rooms until reaching one room with people packed in and filling out papers, standing in lines. We finally figured out that we needed to fill out a form with our arrival information. Then a lady comes over and sends us from the forever long international line to the Ukrainian citizen line. In our attempt to say "we're not citizens" she spouted off something in Ukrainian and waved us over then left. So we moved. We get to the front of the line and the person in front of us is sent back to fill out the "other side" of the arrivals/departures ticket. Surprise surprise… we were too. Apparently you have to fill out both arrivals and departures in the beginning. Weird. So we filled it off and got back into line.
We got through there and walked through the rest of customs, questioning a little whether we should stop anywhere or not but we walked right through. Weird again. I thought we were supposed to be given a paper on the plane that said how much money we were bringing in?? I KNOW that I've heard people say this, but we weren't. We got out into the area where everyone is waiting for their family and friends along with a ton of people wanting to be your driver. It's actually kind of intimidating to go through it! Off to the right in the back is a young man (yep, using it again!) who had to be right around our ages if that. I want to say younger, but Mike would possibly say a little older. This was Acho.
We attempted to ask Acho about declaring money and he quickly dialed Natalia on the phone. She introduced herself and we did the greetings and then she said that as long as we didn't bring over the allowed amount of cash we are fine. No need to do anything else. Hmm… Ok… Since we didn't see anywhere to do this anyway, we decided to take her word on it. We'll find out Monday whether or not this was a good idea when we try to turn in the traveler's checks! I'm afraid this may be a problem!! UGH. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it though.
Acho brought us out to the car and we met Sa'rai – the driver- and headed out. He drives a cute little Audi ☺ Next stop was a store to buy a cell phone and to exchange some money. We dug a little money out (we'd only had travel money on us and not enough to change over immediately nor to pay for a telephone) and went inside. At the time we didn't realize that we'd be doing both at the same place though, so we only brought in the money for a phone. Surprise! I had the other money on me, just not accessible, so I asked out helper people whether there was a restroom nearby. They asked someone that basically said 'no' and they said there's one down the road at a restaurant. Uh… no, thanks. So I asked Sa'rai to bring me out to the car and I retrieved some money that way. We went back in and exchanged it. Wanted to make sure we had enough grivnas for several days so that we don't have to keep running to the bank. I sure hope that the TCs are able to be cashed out though! Or else… we might just have a problem.
So I'll back up a little further now. Our plane trip ☺ We left the house around 9:45 on Friday morning and my mom drove us to the airport. This was after Kristopher said a very happy "goodbye" and was off with Grandma and Grandpa Cornish. And after I got to sit and rock with Brianna with tears streaming down my face. I already miss them both. But I didn't want Kristopher to see me cry. Brianna went willingly back to Aunt Elizabeth so that was good, and we were off to he airport. Sorry this is so scattered. It's 6pm here and 11am at home. I've had about 3 hours sleep- in a combination of 3 attempts or more- since yesterday when we woke up at 7am. (and only went to bed at about 1am!).
Ok, so where was I?? Our flights… Orlando to DC was uneventful. We had lunch at Orlando airport and sat around for a little while before boarding our first flight. Then when we got to DC we had a pretzel (Mike's had a hot dog in it) and drinks. We sat on the floor near our gate because there weren't enough chairs nearby. It was actually kindof funny because Mike and I sat down in this big open area and there was noone around. But I guess since we were doing it everyone else could too? The floor area was covered with people by the time they called for boarding.
On the DC flight (to Frankfurt) we tried to sleep, tried to read, but it was all difficult. The guy sitting next to me on the plane was quite the character. He was interesting. Going to meet friends in Vienna, off for a little break from work after having to work through the holidays. I'd guess he was about 30, give or take a year or two. He was very nice though. Justin? Or Jason? Something like that! The overseas flight was LONG. But it was ok. My knee was sore by the time we were getting off, and there was about a 4 yr old kid sitting behind me that threw fits about every hour the entire 8 hours. Thrashing, kicking my seat HARD, and CONSTANTLY while throwing these 5-10 min fits. It was lovely. I couldn't help but pray that that's not me on the way home… I honestly just think the parents didn't care. They were asleep while he was throwing fits. It was awful. But besides that everything was good ☺
Then we got to Frankfurt. This airport was unusual. I already told about the LOOONG bus ride to get from the plane to the building, but then when we got to the terminal there were no signs or anything to ay where to go. We wandered a little thne finally found a 'service' desk and asked there. The lady said we could check in upstairs or just at the gate. We opted to go upstairs and I'm SO GLAD we did! The first line we stood in we found out was the ticketing area, not the check in, so then we headed to another (much longer) line. We got checked in, even had seats next to each other, and went downstairs to go to the gate. But we couldn't. They don't allow you in the gate area more than 10 minutes before boarding. So here we were with about 45 minutes to spare and nowhere to go. We went upstairs to a different floor so we could at least use the restroom and get something to drink. After trying to buy a drink a few other ways we eventually ended up buying Mike a coffee at a Haagen Daaz store. I bet it was good. And since we didn't have any Euro to pay with we had to pay in USD, but they didn't seem to mind.
We went back downstairs and eventually found another corner to hide in until we could go into the gate area. We sat there for quite some time before going and checking in. Then the flight was delayed 30 minutes, so we sat inside the 'secure area' for a really long time. We met some interesting people while waiting. A 50 yr old woman that was going to Kiev to have fibroids removed from her Uterus. And she's had 3 rounds of IVF that have failed already and intends to come back to Kiev again when she's recovered from this surgery for one last attempt at IVF. Interesting? What's even more interesting is that eventually things came around to our adoption and at the very end that we're adopting a child with Down syndrome. As she left this woman said "I think it's really neat that you're adopting a child with Ds. I don't think I could do it". Hmm… But you're 50 and trying to get pregnant? I kind of hope she doesn't get pregnant… Is that mean of me?
We also met another lady that is from Kiev. She married and moved to the US and is on her way back to visit family. Her husband was just deployed with the US armed forces to Iraq for a year.
Well, I guess that's all the events of the past day or two. Now we're watching a movie on the laptop and just had some microwave mac 'n cheese for dinner (and a snicker's bar and slim jim bc the mac 'n cheese were even gross!). I had to boil water for the mac too because we haven't been able to buy any bottled water yet. Tomorrow we'll venture out some and get water at the very least, and hopefully will get in some sight seeing ☺
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We are here!
I'm just testing my ability to post from e-mail. Yep, should have done it in the States. Didn't!
We're at a cafe having lunch. Found Wi-fi :)
More later- LOTS more from yesterday and today!
Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power. Play now!
We're at a cafe having lunch. Found Wi-fi :)
More later- LOTS more from yesterday and today!
Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power. Play now!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Pictures... LOTS of pictures...
(photobucket slide shows)
A few pictures of our house:
And a few more (sorry, the program limits the amt per show) of the kids, family, pets, etc :)
A few pictures of our house:
And a few more (sorry, the program limits the amt per show) of the kids, family, pets, etc :)
Monday, January 14, 2008
God news
Yes, me AGAIN! I was sharing a story with my mom and thought- ya know, I should share it here too :)
I wanted to set up both sets of grandparents with carseats for the kids so that the days they have the kids they will be able to go out to the library, park, wherever and not have to constantly be trading cars or moving carseats around. Both grandparents already have seats for Kristopher that they've bought during the last 2 or 3 years, but they don't have them for Brianna yet since she hasn't hit the age of "grandparent dates" quite yet. Since I watched the baby I still had another carseat that will fit Brianna so that took care of one grandparent. But what about the other?
Last week we sat down to have lunch at the church cafe and received a gift from the kitchen manager because we had loaned her our carseat that was in Mike's car for Kristopher. She just needed it over Christmas break for her grandbaby and it was no problem for us to be without it for a few weeks. When I went back to thank her for the gift I asked on a whim if she had another name to call if we didn't have one since we now needed to borrow a seat as well. She didn't, but another friend in the kitchen said "I DO!". Aparantly the night before (? not sure I have that quite right) a friend of hers had asked if she knew anyone that needed a carseat. Her son had outgrown his and they were looking to just give it away. I questioned her for a minute because we needed a full-size backward facing seat (not an infant carrier, she's too long for those but she's not strong enough or heavy enough to face forward yet) and those are a little harder to come by, not to mention more expensive to buy.
It was! I picked it up from Cindy today and it is EXACTLY what we needed! God came through for us in the littlest details and has provided for us again :) Isn't He good?
I wanted to set up both sets of grandparents with carseats for the kids so that the days they have the kids they will be able to go out to the library, park, wherever and not have to constantly be trading cars or moving carseats around. Both grandparents already have seats for Kristopher that they've bought during the last 2 or 3 years, but they don't have them for Brianna yet since she hasn't hit the age of "grandparent dates" quite yet. Since I watched the baby I still had another carseat that will fit Brianna so that took care of one grandparent. But what about the other?
Last week we sat down to have lunch at the church cafe and received a gift from the kitchen manager because we had loaned her our carseat that was in Mike's car for Kristopher. She just needed it over Christmas break for her grandbaby and it was no problem for us to be without it for a few weeks. When I went back to thank her for the gift I asked on a whim if she had another name to call if we didn't have one since we now needed to borrow a seat as well. She didn't, but another friend in the kitchen said "I DO!". Aparantly the night before (? not sure I have that quite right) a friend of hers had asked if she knew anyone that needed a carseat. Her son had outgrown his and they were looking to just give it away. I questioned her for a minute because we needed a full-size backward facing seat (not an infant carrier, she's too long for those but she's not strong enough or heavy enough to face forward yet) and those are a little harder to come by, not to mention more expensive to buy.
It was! I picked it up from Cindy today and it is EXACTLY what we needed! God came through for us in the littlest details and has provided for us again :) Isn't He good?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Life is short- In memory of Sergey
We learned that little Sergey in Ukraine has passed away. He was sent to Torez (a mental institution) in the middle of last year and passed away in November. In just a few short months a very HEALTHY child from a GOOD baby house (orphanage) passed away. It's easy to see that the children struggling for their lives or who are already sick or malnourished may not live long in an institution, but this little guy was VIBRANT. And the fact that he has gone Home to the Father so quickly is disheartening.
Here is a note from Andrea Roberts, director of Reece's Rainbow:
80% of the children sent to the institution die within the first year of being there. I am not sure how I can stress any more the critical need to find families for these 3 and 4 year olds before they get sent away. Sergey will be listed on our In Memorium page.
80% of the children sent to the institution die within the first year of being there. I am not sure how I can stress any more the critical need to find families for these 3 and 4 year olds before they get sent away. Sergey will be listed on our In Memorium page.
I'm so glad that Sergey is now happy and free. He's sitting on the lap of Jesus and is happier than he ever could be on this earth. But I'm so sad that he never got the love of a family.
This brings up another wave of feelings in me as we leave in a few days to go to the institution where Aleksa has lived for at least 2 1/2 months. Sergey wasn't in the institution long, and although he was in one of the more "well known" institutions, it is one that has now been cleaned up and taken care of much better than it had been. I wonder what we will find... I wonder IF we will find... but most of all I have to hand it back to God and know that this is His plan and His will for our family right now and that He will lead and direct our path.
Please say a little prayer for Aleksa tonight. That she will be safe, warm, and she will hold on for us to come.
Tonight Dennis Jernigan was at our church to lead a night of Worship and Praise. One of the last songs he sang tonight was written from the Father to His children. It is called "Passionate Obsession" and although I don't recommend you do a search to find that title, you can listen to the beginning of the song on his MySpace page on the right side. When you listen, close your eyes and picture someone leaving to go find their child... on the other side of the world sitting cold and alone in an institution. God does that and more for us. Needless to say I couldn't sit there without tears at church tonight. My love for this child I've never met is so great, and yet His love for each of us is immeasurably more than that. Wow.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Timeline in Ukraine
I have had several people ask about the time-line of our adoption once we leave the US. Here's a general idea of what (we think) is going to happen.
Fly to Ukraine
SDA appointment on 1/21 in Kiev (capital)
within a day or two receive formal referral
go to region where child is located
formally accept referral after meeting child
begin process to get court date
have court (about 2-3 weeks to get to this point)
Mike flies home
10 business day "appeal period" (2 more weeks)
get custody of child
receive new birth certificate
begin process for paperwork to return to US
return to Kiev with child
bring child for medical, visa, and get passport
book flights HOME
return to the US! (about another 1-2 weeks)
Fly to Ukraine
SDA appointment on 1/21 in Kiev (capital)
within a day or two receive formal referral
go to region where child is located
formally accept referral after meeting child
begin process to get court date
have court (about 2-3 weeks to get to this point)
Mike flies home
10 business day "appeal period" (2 more weeks)
get custody of child
receive new birth certificate
begin process for paperwork to return to US
return to Kiev with child
bring child for medical, visa, and get passport
book flights HOME
return to the US! (about another 1-2 weeks)
Secret #1 revealed :)
Ok, so the past few days I've received comments that say the country we're traveling to and I've had to delete them because we haven't been posting our country (but I completely understand how difficult it is for my fellow-adopting-parents to remember who is posting what! No problem!) Anyway... as a celebration of our approaching travel date (and the absense of any more necessity for privacy in this area) I thought that I would finally post the country that we are traveling to... It is the Eastern European country of Ukraine :)
Here are a few facts about Ukraine:
Population: 47,110,000
Capital: Kiev; 2,618,000
Area: 603,700 square kilometers (233,090 square miles)
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Religion: Ukrainian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish Currency: hryvnia
Life Expectancy: 68
GDP per Capita: U.S. $4,500
Here are a few facts about Ukraine:
Population: 47,110,000
Capital: Kiev; 2,618,000
Area: 603,700 square kilometers (233,090 square miles)
Language: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Religion: Ukrainian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish Currency: hryvnia
Life Expectancy: 68
GDP per Capita: U.S. $4,500
Wow
Last night, sitting in church, a man from Samaratin's Purse delivered a message. It was a message for the new year- for renewing your relationship and commitment to Christ and for not just "feeling good for caring" about the world around us and the people that are living life in both deplorable circumstances and without the knowledge and understanding of Christ... BUT doing something about it.
His son and daughter are both serving as missionaries in Sudan. His daughter is a doctor near the border to northern Sudan right in the midst of war. She treats gunshot and machete wounds alongside burn victims and those who've been injured from landmines and grenades. Wow. His son is serving in a much different capacity, but still in the midst of the warzone. He is searching out the churches that have been destroyed by the Muslim forces and the pastors that have been crucified on the doors to their church- with their flocks inside- then burnt to the ground, people and all. He has discovered and aided in rebuilding over 500 churches and won't be coming home until 1000 are complete. Wow.
All the while I sat there, touched by his stories and the love he has that is so apparant for his children. But as he gave his final statements I didn't feel a conviction of the Spirit. I didn't feel that desire to go and to do and to give that he was asking the congregation to see. And I didn't understand why, for just a moment.
Then it hit me. And I was surprised. I am. Going, doing, giving. I've never been in this place before, but the contentment I felt after such a powerful message was wonderful. The Will of the Father, surrounded in Peace, is definitely a place that I desier to stay.
His son and daughter are both serving as missionaries in Sudan. His daughter is a doctor near the border to northern Sudan right in the midst of war. She treats gunshot and machete wounds alongside burn victims and those who've been injured from landmines and grenades. Wow. His son is serving in a much different capacity, but still in the midst of the warzone. He is searching out the churches that have been destroyed by the Muslim forces and the pastors that have been crucified on the doors to their church- with their flocks inside- then burnt to the ground, people and all. He has discovered and aided in rebuilding over 500 churches and won't be coming home until 1000 are complete. Wow.
All the while I sat there, touched by his stories and the love he has that is so apparant for his children. But as he gave his final statements I didn't feel a conviction of the Spirit. I didn't feel that desire to go and to do and to give that he was asking the congregation to see. And I didn't understand why, for just a moment.
Then it hit me. And I was surprised. I am. Going, doing, giving. I've never been in this place before, but the contentment I felt after such a powerful message was wonderful. The Will of the Father, surrounded in Peace, is definitely a place that I desier to stay.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Broken and New
Well, the bad news is that my laptop is broken. Broken enough that we know it will not last the trip overseas and up to 2 months there without needing to be taken apart and put back together again (a process Mike has effectively done about 5 times now, securing the problem each time and returning it to it's properly working condition... for a time). So tonight we went out to take another look at laptops. We were hoping not to do this but it was time.
So there MUST be good news then... Yes, we found a computer. A CHEAP computer. Less than $500 for a decent laptop on clearance- open item (but never actually used, it is obvious). We took the "smart road" this time and purchased that thing we said we'd never do-- "accidental damage warranty". Yep, it's worth it! That's the only reason my old laptop secured its death. Kristopher dropped it off the couch onto the power plug. Bye bye connection to motherboard and ability to run off power or charge the battery. Lots of tiny screws and a soddering gun later it has been limping along for quite some time with only periodic needs to re-repair it.
Here's the neat part(s) though- the man selling us the machine says "I'll take 20% off of any warranty plan if you purchase 2 accessories with the laptop. Hmm.. let's do the math... $280 plan, 20% is $56. So... we looked around a bit. A 2 gig memory stick for the digital camera? on sale from $37 marked down to $24... A game for Kristopher? $20... Ok, so if we spend this extra $44 then we'll save $56? Right. Immediately, no mail in's or anything. Sounds good, we just got $12 off our warranty AND got a memory stick and a computer game :) Then... he took 20% off of the game and the memory stick too! Our whole bill came to $817. $1057 worth of equipment. Not too bad :) (unfortunately, when we got home we realized that the computer rang up for $50 more than it was priced, so we'll go back to have that corrected... but we know our salesman is working and even the manager tomorrow- no worries!) Have I mentioned we like Staples?
And the new laptop has some neat features that we REALLY didn't expect to find for such a great price. A memory card reader- and get this- I put my memory stick in and pressed "import" and it even put them all in a folder named EXACTLY how I would have named it and it's in my "pictures" folder even. I LOVE IT! No cord, no using up batteries... And a webcam. Yep, $500 and it has a webcam. Not bad? I'm sure it has more than that, but those are the two things that I'm really excited about. And both will be wonderful to have overseas.
So even if we didn't exactly want to spend the $800 on a new computer, I feel so much better knowing that I'll have this as a means of communication while I'm gone and that it won't be dying mid-trip! (but if it does... it will be replaced for free!)
So even tho you didn't ask for it, here's a pic of ME posting this post, isn't the web cam cool?? :D
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
What 2008 will bring...
In 2008...
Brianna will turn 2, Meredith 26, Kristopher 4, then Michael 27
Mike will travel overseas for 2-3 weeks, Meredith for 5-8 weeks (for my first int'l travel!)
Aleksa will join our family!! She will celerate all her FIRSTS as well as her first birthday with a family and a party when she turns 6 in December
Michael will continue his Master's degree program and plan to graduate in May/August of '09
We WILL sell our previous house and purchase the home we're now living in from my parents
In August the "big kids" will start school. Aleksa will be in Kindergarten (probably) and Kristopher in K-4
I will figure out how to organize my life, housework, and schedule because I refuse to drown due to my own lack of organization :)
Brianna will learn to walk, Kristopher to swim, and Aleksa to love and be loved
I have no doubt that each of these things will happen because God is in the driver's seat and He has set these things in motion. Now to see what His plans are to get them done!
Brianna will turn 2, Meredith 26, Kristopher 4, then Michael 27
Mike will travel overseas for 2-3 weeks, Meredith for 5-8 weeks (for my first int'l travel!)
Aleksa will join our family!! She will celerate all her FIRSTS as well as her first birthday with a family and a party when she turns 6 in December
Michael will continue his Master's degree program and plan to graduate in May/August of '09
We WILL sell our previous house and purchase the home we're now living in from my parents
In August the "big kids" will start school. Aleksa will be in Kindergarten (probably) and Kristopher in K-4
I will figure out how to organize my life, housework, and schedule because I refuse to drown due to my own lack of organization :)
Brianna will learn to walk, Kristopher to swim, and Aleksa to love and be loved
I have no doubt that each of these things will happen because God is in the driver's seat and He has set these things in motion. Now to see what His plans are to get them done!
Happy New Year!
It's 2008! I can't believe it's January already, and the SECOND at that! Only 16 days to go until we will be breathing freezint air!
For the sake of the new year, here is a review of the Cornish Household in 2007...
2007 has been a busy one toward the end, but a pretty slow beginning :) January was Brianna's first birthday and Meredith's 25th. In February Kristopher turned 3 and brought into our house all that comes with that :) In April we put out house on the market and in May we listed it with a realtor. Then in the end of May we went aead and moved anyway into my childhood home :) My parents bought another house and we are now buying this house from them. No luck still on the sale of the other yet... KNOW ANYONE??? I spent June with the kids at church doing our annual summer camp called Summer CHAOS (it is very true to its name!). Mike celebrated his 26th in June as well. We also did lots of swimming and therapy in the pool this summer and Brianna really benefitted from it!
In August is when life got a little more crazy. Mike went back to school at PBAU for his Master's degree in Organizational Leadership (at their Orlando campus). I started watching a friend's baby (then 4 months) during the day. The kids started Kids' Adventure Days (like Mom's morning out) at the church two days a week. Oh, and we decided to have a bigger family :)
In September we got our initial paperwork going along with our homestudy visit. In October we found out Aleksa had been moved to an institution and attempted to speed things along. November came and we finished our dossier, Mike drove it up for the apostille in Tallahassee, and it went overseas. Then it was translated and submitted, accepted and even approved!
December brought us pretty much NO news the majority of the month but it all was worth it in the end when we received our SDA appointment!
Here's hoping that all of the surprises of 2008 will be as filled with blessings as those in 2007 have been!
For the sake of the new year, here is a review of the Cornish Household in 2007...
2007 has been a busy one toward the end, but a pretty slow beginning :) January was Brianna's first birthday and Meredith's 25th. In February Kristopher turned 3 and brought into our house all that comes with that :) In April we put out house on the market and in May we listed it with a realtor. Then in the end of May we went aead and moved anyway into my childhood home :) My parents bought another house and we are now buying this house from them. No luck still on the sale of the other yet... KNOW ANYONE??? I spent June with the kids at church doing our annual summer camp called Summer CHAOS (it is very true to its name!). Mike celebrated his 26th in June as well. We also did lots of swimming and therapy in the pool this summer and Brianna really benefitted from it!
In August is when life got a little more crazy. Mike went back to school at PBAU for his Master's degree in Organizational Leadership (at their Orlando campus). I started watching a friend's baby (then 4 months) during the day. The kids started Kids' Adventure Days (like Mom's morning out) at the church two days a week. Oh, and we decided to have a bigger family :)
In September we got our initial paperwork going along with our homestudy visit. In October we found out Aleksa had been moved to an institution and attempted to speed things along. November came and we finished our dossier, Mike drove it up for the apostille in Tallahassee, and it went overseas. Then it was translated and submitted, accepted and even approved!
December brought us pretty much NO news the majority of the month but it all was worth it in the end when we received our SDA appointment!
Here's hoping that all of the surprises of 2008 will be as filled with blessings as those in 2007 have been!
Monday, December 31, 2007
It's gonna be rough
Well, I guess from my previous posts you've already guessed it's going to be rough overseas. But this morning I got a little taste of just how rough it's going to before my kids here at home. Yes, I know that they'll miss us, but both my kids are very resilient and very easily adapt to change, so I know that they will be fine while we're gone. Plus they're better off here than in the unknown conditions we'll face overseas.
But this morning Kristopher woke up and as he walked through the house he started saying "Daddy, I'm up, I'm awake, let's go watch cartoons!" Then he got to our room only to discover that Mike had already left for work. He's been off since the 18th or so, and K has really enjoyed having him home! Kristopher left my room and came out to the family room, presumeably to watch cartoons and I dragged myself out of bed (after all it WAS almost 8am!).
I found this pitiful scene when I got to the family room: Kristopher lay curled up in a ball on the couch. No toys, no books. The TV was off but he was awake. When I came in he said nothing like a 'hello' or a 'goodmorning' and instead said "I miss him..." with that tiny sad voice that your kids can turn on and melt you with :( So we called Daddy and were happy to hear that the office will be closing at 12:30 today and he'll be home then :) But man, this is going to be rough!
But this morning Kristopher woke up and as he walked through the house he started saying "Daddy, I'm up, I'm awake, let's go watch cartoons!" Then he got to our room only to discover that Mike had already left for work. He's been off since the 18th or so, and K has really enjoyed having him home! Kristopher left my room and came out to the family room, presumeably to watch cartoons and I dragged myself out of bed (after all it WAS almost 8am!).
I found this pitiful scene when I got to the family room: Kristopher lay curled up in a ball on the couch. No toys, no books. The TV was off but he was awake. When I came in he said nothing like a 'hello' or a 'goodmorning' and instead said "I miss him..." with that tiny sad voice that your kids can turn on and melt you with :( So we called Daddy and were happy to hear that the office will be closing at 12:30 today and he'll be home then :) But man, this is going to be rough!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
A prayer request
Tonight I received a call from a friend with an unusual question. A little background info first... I had shared with this friend that Mike and I were deciding whether we were going to try to find someone that would meet up with me overseas after Mike comes home. Partially for security, partially for an extra set of hands and some company- especially on the flight home. We also had discussed (and mentioned to a few students) the possibility of seeing if there is a college student that would like "out" and would like to move in to our guest room and essentially 'rent a room' from us in exchange for a few hours of help with the kids each week. This would be especially helpful during the first few months we are home with many doctor's appointments, etc. that we would rather not bring all the kids to. And although we have wonderful family and friends, we recognize that this will be right after taxing our resources and our friendships by depending on their help while I am away.
Ok... so the phone call... My friend said that her former childcare provider (who works as a 1-2-1 with children with special needs in Maine I believe) would like to adopt some day- a child with Down syndrome- from overseas! Pretty neat I'd say! But... there's more... This girl is not yet married or finished with school (partially done with college) so her adoption plans are not going to happen for a few years. She would, however, LOVE to come along on our trip overseas to help us and to see for herself what things are like. She also might consider coming back with us and helping us out at the house until August.
Sounds to me like it fits like a glove... but I have a few hesitations. One is whether this person I've never met is going to REALLY want to spend that much time with my husband and I (or even just me if she comes after he leaves) and whether she is going to be happy about offering to come and stay in my 'urban camping' apartment (I've been promised 4 walls and a toilet and told to be ecstatic if we get more!). I'm sure there are a few more thouhts but those are the only ones that come to mind.
So my request- would you please pray that "M" as well as Mike and I are able to clearly know whether she is supposed to be a part of our international adoption journey and possibly our family thereafter for a time? It is a big decision and needs to be made before we book our tickets... probably.
THANKS!
Ok... so the phone call... My friend said that her former childcare provider (who works as a 1-2-1 with children with special needs in Maine I believe) would like to adopt some day- a child with Down syndrome- from overseas! Pretty neat I'd say! But... there's more... This girl is not yet married or finished with school (partially done with college) so her adoption plans are not going to happen for a few years. She would, however, LOVE to come along on our trip overseas to help us and to see for herself what things are like. She also might consider coming back with us and helping us out at the house until August.
Sounds to me like it fits like a glove... but I have a few hesitations. One is whether this person I've never met is going to REALLY want to spend that much time with my husband and I (or even just me if she comes after he leaves) and whether she is going to be happy about offering to come and stay in my 'urban camping' apartment (I've been promised 4 walls and a toilet and told to be ecstatic if we get more!). I'm sure there are a few more thouhts but those are the only ones that come to mind.
So my request- would you please pray that "M" as well as Mike and I are able to clearly know whether she is supposed to be a part of our international adoption journey and possibly our family thereafter for a time? It is a big decision and needs to be made before we book our tickets... probably.
THANKS!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The most original (and treasured) gift I received
This Christmas I got a BIG surprise. My sister whom I miss because she moved to MN almost a year ago is down for Christmas. And although I knew she'd bought the children each a small gift and she brought me down a 'surprise' because I couldn't buy it here, she also blessed me with the most original and treasured gift I've gotten in a long time.
She took the time (LOTS OF TIME) to print out each of my blog entries since late August when I started this blog along with all the pictures onto scrapbooking colored paper. She then assembled a scrapbook and made me a REAL BOOK with all these entries telling of our adoption journey this far!! And it has room to grow (LOTS!) as we complete this journey so I can add to it until Aleksa is home!
I'm sure there was no way that I could really get her to know HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS GIFT, but let's say I have it on my dresser and each time I walk by it (at least 5 times a day) I open it up and just look. It's amazing! I can't think of a better way to have made these electronic entries into something that we can sit and look at and read together and remember the journey. I can't find an "adoption book" for older children (like a baby book but with adoption benchmarks instead of first tooth and birth weight, and even better would be for kiddos with special needs!).
THANK YOU ELIZABETH!!!!!
And just as a side note this is the same amazing person that is taking 3 weeks off of work to fly back down here in 3 weeks (she'll only be home for 2!) and watch my kids while Mike and I are overseas. Isn't she wonderful?? I LOVE YOU ELIZABETH!!
She took the time (LOTS OF TIME) to print out each of my blog entries since late August when I started this blog along with all the pictures onto scrapbooking colored paper. She then assembled a scrapbook and made me a REAL BOOK with all these entries telling of our adoption journey this far!! And it has room to grow (LOTS!) as we complete this journey so I can add to it until Aleksa is home!
I'm sure there was no way that I could really get her to know HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS GIFT, but let's say I have it on my dresser and each time I walk by it (at least 5 times a day) I open it up and just look. It's amazing! I can't think of a better way to have made these electronic entries into something that we can sit and look at and read together and remember the journey. I can't find an "adoption book" for older children (like a baby book but with adoption benchmarks instead of first tooth and birth weight, and even better would be for kiddos with special needs!).
THANK YOU ELIZABETH!!!!!
And just as a side note this is the same amazing person that is taking 3 weeks off of work to fly back down here in 3 weeks (she'll only be home for 2!) and watch my kids while Mike and I are overseas. Isn't she wonderful?? I LOVE YOU ELIZABETH!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
WE GOT OUR DATE!!
YAY!!! What a wonderful late Christmas gift!! Our SDA appointment in Aleksa's country is.... JANUARY 21st!!!
Not just a Christmas gift, BUT also a great early birthday present as well! I will be 26 on January 22nd! :D :D
Start praying please! More later...
Not just a Christmas gift, BUT also a great early birthday present as well! I will be 26 on January 22nd! :D :D
Start praying please! More later...
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas!!
I'll have to post the picture of the kids with Santa after Christmas unless I find a miraculous minute in the next day or two, but I still wanted to wish all of my blogging friends a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
A Brianna Update
Although this is supposed to be our "adoption" blog, there's no real news there. So here's a little about what Brianna has accomplished lately...
Brianna is AMAZING. That's the only way I can put it! She pulled to standing once about 2 weeks ago and although she hasn't accomplished it again yet, she is getting into a tall-kneel and putting one foot up :) She's on her way and I bet she'll have it figured out in the next few weeks. Also, some of you may not know that Brianna's primary mode of transportation is on her fanny. Yep, she scoots everywhere on her butt! We tried for a while to get her crawling but to no interest of her own. Well... while I was on the phone today sitting on the floor, she looked at me, grinned, then CRAWLED on all fours! PERFECTLY! It was only about 3 or 4 feet, but she did it! I'm so proud of this little munchkin!
And in communication she has just blossomed lately! Just a few weeks ago we'd ask her questions with no reply or a grunt or nod. She has some words, has some signs, but used them sparingly and not always on-demand. This kiddo has come out with 3-part signs now! She'll ask for more-eat-please or more-milk-please or more-play! She's waving hello and goodbye and even saying bye-bye every time now. She also is saying please and thank you pretty consistantly and loves to blow people kisses when they're leaving (although it's pretty much the same as thank-you ;) ). She's also learned a lot of animal signs lately and in addition to her dog and bird signs she is signing (granted not all the time...) cat, sheep, cow, and pig, and has attempted fish and a few others.
We used to have a hard time with me being around during therapy because she just wanted to be held or cuddled when I was around so I started leaving and watching from the other room while involved with something else. I usually stick around a few minutes at the beginning just so she knows I'm not running away and then I slowly slip out. On Wed when she had speech she looked at me, waved and said bye-bye, and pointed out the door! She then signed 'play' to her ST! She was ready to play and ready for me to leave.
Her absolute favorite sign is baby. She loves her baby dolls but even moreso loves the baby I watch during the day. Little AB is 9 months old and I think she has had a big hand in teaching Brianna some of these recent gross-motor milestones. She crawls and pulls to standing, so although we haven't been able to convince Bria that it's a good way to go- AB seems to have done that for us! Thanks baby girl!!
Brianna will be 2 in a week and along with her big brother is the joy of our days!
I love you Tiny!!
Brianna is AMAZING. That's the only way I can put it! She pulled to standing once about 2 weeks ago and although she hasn't accomplished it again yet, she is getting into a tall-kneel and putting one foot up :) She's on her way and I bet she'll have it figured out in the next few weeks. Also, some of you may not know that Brianna's primary mode of transportation is on her fanny. Yep, she scoots everywhere on her butt! We tried for a while to get her crawling but to no interest of her own. Well... while I was on the phone today sitting on the floor, she looked at me, grinned, then CRAWLED on all fours! PERFECTLY! It was only about 3 or 4 feet, but she did it! I'm so proud of this little munchkin!
And in communication she has just blossomed lately! Just a few weeks ago we'd ask her questions with no reply or a grunt or nod. She has some words, has some signs, but used them sparingly and not always on-demand. This kiddo has come out with 3-part signs now! She'll ask for more-eat-please or more-milk-please or more-play! She's waving hello and goodbye and even saying bye-bye every time now. She also is saying please and thank you pretty consistantly and loves to blow people kisses when they're leaving (although it's pretty much the same as thank-you ;) ). She's also learned a lot of animal signs lately and in addition to her dog and bird signs she is signing (granted not all the time...) cat, sheep, cow, and pig, and has attempted fish and a few others.
We used to have a hard time with me being around during therapy because she just wanted to be held or cuddled when I was around so I started leaving and watching from the other room while involved with something else. I usually stick around a few minutes at the beginning just so she knows I'm not running away and then I slowly slip out. On Wed when she had speech she looked at me, waved and said bye-bye, and pointed out the door! She then signed 'play' to her ST! She was ready to play and ready for me to leave.
Her absolute favorite sign is baby. She loves her baby dolls but even moreso loves the baby I watch during the day. Little AB is 9 months old and I think she has had a big hand in teaching Brianna some of these recent gross-motor milestones. She crawls and pulls to standing, so although we haven't been able to convince Bria that it's a good way to go- AB seems to have done that for us! Thanks baby girl!!
Brianna will be 2 in a week and along with her big brother is the joy of our days!
I love you Tiny!!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
God's provision
Well, today is day 21 of our 20 day wait... and yes, we're still waiting!
On a side note, today was a very long day. It began when the baby I watch was brought to me with a mild case of hives. Not a really big deal because they started yesterday and we just went through this with her a few weeks ago and this looked EXACTLY like it had then... it was an allergic reaction. About an hour after she was dropped off we all pile into the van to go to the church where I (usually) drop off the kids for a few hours to get a little Mommy break :) But, this morning it was going to start a half hour later so I planned to drop by the post office to get Kim's monkeys in the mail.
When we were finally all ready to leave I realized that the little one's face had about 10x as many hives as she got to me with, and her feet were really patchy and swollen as well. So I called her dad and instead of hitting the post office (sorry Kim!) I dropped her off to her Daddy. Then off to the church for what could-have-been a morning off. Except today was Kristopher's age group's special mommy-day and they were making ornaments, singing Christmas carols, and icing cookies for 2 hrs instead of having regular class. Parents must attend (not that I wouldn't... :) ).
So I brought Brianna to her class just in time for her PT to come and have a WONDERFUL session with her (Bria stood unsupported for 3-4 seconds two different times! YAY!) And Kristopher and I headed over to the gym for a little running. Then we listened to the Christmas story, made ornaments, iced cookies and sang carols. Eleven o'clock rolled around and Kristopher and I snuck off to the post office (see, I really did get the monkeys out!) then headed back to the church to pick up Brianna and to have lunch with Mike. About this time I called the baby I watch's dad and arranged to pick her up from their house after lunch. An uneventful day at the doctor- they pronounced her free from STREP and decided it must be another allergic reaction-- no idea what!
We swallowed down lunch, picked up the baby, got home, unpacked the van (including children!) and got everyone to lay down for a little rest. Somehow this time went by and I'm not sure WHERE it went... but it did. And then everyone was up and bustling around and playing HARD. Four o'clock came around, the baby got picked up, my tutoring student showed up, and I somehow breathed twice in the midst of it. That's about when the fun began.
Kristopher decided that it was a good idea to 1) scream loudly from his little snack table and see if he could talk Bria into getting in trouble with him by screaming back 2) throw little balls at Brianna's head and continue to do so after he's been told not to just to see what would happen 3) talk back and generally "mouth off" to his mother when he was told to go to time-out for hurting his sister 4) throw things at the walls in his room when he was finally sent there for a time...
Needless to say I felt really bad for my student and apologized when his mom was back an hour or so later. He did great in the midst of the chaotic house and Mike did get home sometime in there and rescued me from the little monster-boy (Kristopher, not my student ;) ).
Whew. I'm tired just writing that... but here's the cool part- did you make it this far?? :)
When I'm done tutoring I asked Mike what he'd like for dinner and like a sweet husband that KNOWS that I'm spent and really don't want to make ANYTHING for dinner, much less starting at 6pm, he says "Why don't we go out?".
Well, that's the question, isn't it? And I had a reply on the tip of my tongue just WHY we shouldn't go out-- it's the WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, we're trying to ADOPT, we have a HOUSE ON THE MARKET, Mike's in GRADSCHOOL... all these seemed like good reasons why we don't go out to eat. But... I was spent. So we spent.
Mike suggested Sonny's and I thought, "ok, I have a coupon for $5 off and we'll just get something inexpensive". So we went out. And when we went to pay our bill it was $26, then the coupon brings it down to $21, and a tip back up to $26. Mike hands the casher the slip and coupon then stands and waits for her to ask for his card. She needed a manager 'card' to scan to input the coupon so she went and got one, then when she asked Mike for his card she instead looked down, saw what looked like a gift card on the counter, and swiped it. OOPS! It was the "manager's card". It MESSED UP their system!
So 10 minutes later we were finally able to pay our bill and they had to get the ?owner? out there to fix the mess that this card had made. And guess what? He reduced our bill by 50%! So now our $26 dinner (including tip) was $12! We added the tip back on to that and dinner for 4 ended up being $17. What a night. I guess God knew how much we needed a night out. Even if it is Christmas and we have other financial responsibilities. Isn't God's provision great?
On a side note, today was a very long day. It began when the baby I watch was brought to me with a mild case of hives. Not a really big deal because they started yesterday and we just went through this with her a few weeks ago and this looked EXACTLY like it had then... it was an allergic reaction. About an hour after she was dropped off we all pile into the van to go to the church where I (usually) drop off the kids for a few hours to get a little Mommy break :) But, this morning it was going to start a half hour later so I planned to drop by the post office to get Kim's monkeys in the mail.
When we were finally all ready to leave I realized that the little one's face had about 10x as many hives as she got to me with, and her feet were really patchy and swollen as well. So I called her dad and instead of hitting the post office (sorry Kim!) I dropped her off to her Daddy. Then off to the church for what could-have-been a morning off. Except today was Kristopher's age group's special mommy-day and they were making ornaments, singing Christmas carols, and icing cookies for 2 hrs instead of having regular class. Parents must attend (not that I wouldn't... :) ).
So I brought Brianna to her class just in time for her PT to come and have a WONDERFUL session with her (Bria stood unsupported for 3-4 seconds two different times! YAY!) And Kristopher and I headed over to the gym for a little running. Then we listened to the Christmas story, made ornaments, iced cookies and sang carols. Eleven o'clock rolled around and Kristopher and I snuck off to the post office (see, I really did get the monkeys out!) then headed back to the church to pick up Brianna and to have lunch with Mike. About this time I called the baby I watch's dad and arranged to pick her up from their house after lunch. An uneventful day at the doctor- they pronounced her free from STREP and decided it must be another allergic reaction-- no idea what!
We swallowed down lunch, picked up the baby, got home, unpacked the van (including children!) and got everyone to lay down for a little rest. Somehow this time went by and I'm not sure WHERE it went... but it did. And then everyone was up and bustling around and playing HARD. Four o'clock came around, the baby got picked up, my tutoring student showed up, and I somehow breathed twice in the midst of it. That's about when the fun began.
Kristopher decided that it was a good idea to 1) scream loudly from his little snack table and see if he could talk Bria into getting in trouble with him by screaming back 2) throw little balls at Brianna's head and continue to do so after he's been told not to just to see what would happen 3) talk back and generally "mouth off" to his mother when he was told to go to time-out for hurting his sister 4) throw things at the walls in his room when he was finally sent there for a time...
Needless to say I felt really bad for my student and apologized when his mom was back an hour or so later. He did great in the midst of the chaotic house and Mike did get home sometime in there and rescued me from the little monster-boy (Kristopher, not my student ;) ).
Whew. I'm tired just writing that... but here's the cool part- did you make it this far?? :)
When I'm done tutoring I asked Mike what he'd like for dinner and like a sweet husband that KNOWS that I'm spent and really don't want to make ANYTHING for dinner, much less starting at 6pm, he says "Why don't we go out?".
Well, that's the question, isn't it? And I had a reply on the tip of my tongue just WHY we shouldn't go out-- it's the WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, we're trying to ADOPT, we have a HOUSE ON THE MARKET, Mike's in GRADSCHOOL... all these seemed like good reasons why we don't go out to eat. But... I was spent. So we spent.
Mike suggested Sonny's and I thought, "ok, I have a coupon for $5 off and we'll just get something inexpensive". So we went out. And when we went to pay our bill it was $26, then the coupon brings it down to $21, and a tip back up to $26. Mike hands the casher the slip and coupon then stands and waits for her to ask for his card. She needed a manager 'card' to scan to input the coupon so she went and got one, then when she asked Mike for his card she instead looked down, saw what looked like a gift card on the counter, and swiped it. OOPS! It was the "manager's card". It MESSED UP their system!
So 10 minutes later we were finally able to pay our bill and they had to get the ?owner? out there to fix the mess that this card had made. And guess what? He reduced our bill by 50%! So now our $26 dinner (including tip) was $12! We added the tip back on to that and dinner for 4 ended up being $17. What a night. I guess God knew how much we needed a night out. Even if it is Christmas and we have other financial responsibilities. Isn't God's provision great?
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